Suit Pocket?

[Powerful Pete]

Well, few dress as formally as in the past. Formal shirts still do not have pockets, but I must admit that I only have a couple at the moment.

 

So when wearing a formal shirt the pen always goes in the inner suit pocket.

 

 

Now I wear a blazer/suit with a more informal shirt (of the Brooks Brothers variety) and they have pockets, which I do find useful. I find myself taking off my blazer in the office and keeping my FP in my shirt pocket so that I do not forget it when heading to a meeting.

[JDavid]

I like to wear my pen attached to the shirt placard, behind my tie. It's not visible to the world, but A) I know where it is.. and "If" I should have a leak, it's covered by the tie!

[rfranca]

I have this Pelikan Leather pen case (for two pens). I When I go to a meeting I would normally dress my jacket and carry the pen case in the inner jacket pocket.

I prefere to have the pen case at all times than to just clip the pen to the pocket.

 

When I'm not using a jacket, I'll probably cary everything in a sort of side purse I use

[Tojusi]

I usually carry my small slim wallet in left inside suit pocket (I only carry 6 cards in a slim card case so it does not really show).

 

For the pen(s), I usually have one of the following three in my right inside suit pocket (depending on the pen(s) and their sizes): a Lamy one-pen leather case; a Lamy two-pen leather case; or a Montblanc two-pen leather case for thicker pens (Montblanc or Pelikan 805). I also have a very thin leather one-pen case from Winedoc for Danitrio Densho size (also takes Pelikan 805).

 

That's it for me.

 

On the subject of shirt pocket, I once had a meeting where the counterparty took of his suit jacket and had a white shirt with a pocket. He was taking notes with a BP, and had the habit of putting the BP back into the pocket quite often. The only thing is, he did not retract the point and every time ended stabbing himself on the chest above the pocket with the pen, then sliding the pen down to pocket... I think that by the end of the meeting he had about dozen blue ball point streaks on his shirt above the pocket!

 

/Tojusi

[Italicist]

Here's another possibility: wear your pen on your tie as an alternative to a tie clip. It weighs down your tie to keep it under control, leaves you with a place to keep your cap if you don't like to post it while writing, and it makes people wonder what you're up to.

 

(tongue firmly in cheek, of course)

[vickiehof]

Where should a gentleman you keep the day's pen when it's not in your hand? When I'm wearing a suit, I'm not sure whether it should go in my upper jacket pocket on display beside my tie, or in my shirt pocket which is mostly covered by the jacket, or just hide it on the inside pocket.

 

Your question reminded me of the recent video of Czech President Vaclav Klaus admiring and "pocketing" a pen.

[yachtsilverswan]

A gentleman's shirt doesn't have pockets, so the question is really moot.

 

Exactly. Well said.

 

Brooks Brothers sells ready-to-wear shirts with pockets, and Brooks Brothers sells custom shirting made-to-measure without pockets. Brooks Brothers, like most establishments serves both gentlemen and rogues.

 

I'm a tab collar, French cuff, French front, center back vent, block monogram over the left obliques, locker loop kinda shirt guy. No pocket. Heavy starch - the shirt should stand in the corner on its own without a hanger.

[RonB]

A gentleman doesn't lecture others about what a gentleman should wear. And he certainly doesn't refer to people who don't conform to his standard of dress as "rogues."

 

I've known or worked with many members of the oldest families in Philadelphia over the years, and I've never once seen any of them wear French cuffs on a shirt in a business setting. And they are happy to buy their shirts off the store shelf. I've also done business in Atlanta, and standards are different.

Edited May 14, 2011 by RonB

[mstone]

A gentleman doesn't lecture others about what a gentleman should wear.

 

that's the difference between a gentleman and a climber.

[rogerb]

I have been reading with amusement this thread and the parallel one, originally discussing putting pens in shirt pockets.

 

What strikes me is how conservative many of us are.

Having lived through the austerity of the post-War 40s and 50s, and the psychedelic 60s and 70s, it seems to me that men's 'clothing rules' are mostly about 'conformity'.

One sees the occasional 'eccentric' in every social stratum, but the majority of men seem content to blend in with those with whom they mix, at work and socially. (Women's fashion is a whole different area )

And pretty much every 'group' has its own set of 'rules', which differ from country to country, according to custom and climate.

 

I grew-up in England, in a military and teaching family.

My father and two of my brothers were teachers and always wore suits to work, and rather looked-down on the 'sports jacket and leather elbow patches brigade' (mostly the Woodwork and Geography teachers, it seemed!!). They just thought it unprofessional.

(And at my secondary school the teachers nearly all wore academic gowns, a standard required by the head-teacher.)

 

My mother was, before she married, a governess to a 'near aristocratic' family, so she was well-versed in what the 'rules' were for them, and she brought some of them 'home'!

 

Just as an example, a male member of 'the gentry' would never have anything in his daywear jacket breast-pocket, except a coloured silk handkerchief (NEVER folded, just tucked-in loosely!).

 

Fountain pens would always be in an inside jacket pocket ( as has been said elsewhere, shirts were pocket-less).

 

But, for goodness, sake, we are well into the 21st century, and these were 'rules' from around the beginning of the 20th!

Central-heating/Air-conditioning in houses, offices and automobiles has made the custom of never removing one's jacket both unnecessary and inappropriate.

 

IMO, men's clothing is decades overdue for a re-design .... but most men are just so conservative that they are still following the herd!

It is amusing to watch sci-fi films made in the 50s/60s about 'the near future' ....i.e. where we are now, or have aleady passed .... men's clothes have not 'progressed' much, in design, cut, materials, since WWII, apart from a brief 'blip' in the 60s/70s!!

 

I wear mostly clothes originally designed by a young brother & sister team in the 70s whose motto was 'Function Before Fashion'. They are comfortable, and great for travel.....and their original designs were much copied by leisure clothing companies. They are near-perfect for the Spanish climate, and my frequent flights to UK

(Nowadays, it's usually only a suit for 'weddings and funerals' ... where one wouldn't wish to embarrass others!)

 

Paul tragically died in a motorcyle accident, while still in his 30s, and Sarah sold the company, which, sadly has, IMO, lost some of Paul's original 'vision' .... I think the 'bean counters' may have been at work

 

Wear what you comfortable in, and store your pen(s) wherever you like That's what I do!

Edited May 15, 2011 by rogerb

[Hemingway]

Inside pocket, when I'm wearing a jacket. Preferably a pocket square in the outer, or (rarely) nothing.

 

Peter

Edited May 14, 2011 by Hemingway

[mateo44]

A gentleman's shirt doesn't have pockets, so the question is really moot.

 

Exactly. Well said.

 

Brooks Brothers sells ready-to-wear shirts with pockets, and Brooks Brothers sells custom shirting made-to-measure without pockets. Brooks Brothers, like most establishments serves both gentlemen and rogues.

 

I'm a tab collar, French cuff, French front, center back vent, block monogram over the left obliques, locker loop kinda shirt guy. No pocket. Heavy starch - the shirt should stand in the corner on its own without a hanger.

 

Thanks for that. Now when someone asks me what haughty means, I have a perfect example.

[rogerb]

You'll also, I'd guess, have an example of what 'Tongue-in-cheek' means ..

[mateo44]

You'll also, I'd guess, have an example of what 'Tongue-in-cheek' means ..

 

Hopefully, yes!

[Fuzzy_Bear]

I'm late coming into the discussion here. When I wear a suit, and where I come from, that is boots, good jeans, and a sports coat, I keep my pens on the inside pocket of the coat. For me, I don't have an outside pocket.

 

Oh, and it's pocket watches all the way. I don't wear a wrist watch.

[yachtsilverswan]

A gentleman doesn't lecture others about what a gentleman should wear. And he certainly doesn't refer to people who don't conform to his standard of dress as "rogues."...

 

You might mention that the next time you are in Brooks Brothers, America's oldest retailer and bastion of American Trad style.

 

Brooks Brothers' men's blog is titled, "Of Rogues and Gentlemen."

[Bo Bo Olson]

Followers who think for some reason they are Gentlemen are not allowed to have a shirt with a pocket. A book has told them it's a no no.

It tells the world they are followers and not leaders.

 

A true Gentleman is prepared, so has a shirt pocket, one never knows when one might be needed.

 

Some of my suits/sports jackets have a special inside pen pocket. They also have a comb pocket(which I'm sure could be used as a pen pocket...just looked and sigh....PPP a couple only have a comb pocket. ).

 

Certain shirt companies make shirts with pen pockets.

 

I have not looked it up in the latest etiquette book, but was under the impression, if you were 'traveling' to or from 'work' that one put it in one's jacket.

At work in one's shirt pocket; after all it could be that one is at one's desk wearing one's waist coat.

So, wearing one in a shirt pocket could be just fine.

 

 

Personally I think having a pen in the coat pen pocket and a pen in ones shirt pocket is the only way to fly. One might need a second pen, or a second ink color.

 

I wouldn't sweat the small stuff actually. There is some book How to Dress for Success, that I glanced at. It's all about what uniform is allowed.

That book disallows a nice subtle 1/3-1/2 K diamond solitaire, even in white gold. Allows loud red, blue and green stones though.

Edited November 8, 2011 by Bo Bo Olson

[PAKMAN]

Ah, well... I'm more of an LL Bean guy than a Brooks Bro guy. Where the shirts (including dress shirts - oxford button down) have a pocket, sometimes two, including most of the t-shirts! There is no one in my world whom I really need to impress with how I dress. Never thought of myself as a 'rogue' but if the shirt fits then so be it! So the shirt pocket for me (left breast pocket, right side).

 

Suits these days are for the occasional wedding or funeral where again no one cares how I look but rather how nice Julia looks in her wedding dress or what a good job the did with aunt Ethel and how natural she looks! With a jacket on I wear my pen on the inside left breast pocket.

 

Thus you have my humble opinion,

 

The Rogue!

[Ganrok]

I wear my pen in the inside of my jacket within a leather case most of the time, and I find the discussion in this thread rather amusing.

 

If some of you find it "rogue" to have a pocket on their shirt, I think that I would stick out like a sore thumb... However I am not a brooks brothers type of guy, more of a Zegna and Loro piana guy

 

and I have a pocket and most of my shirts are brightly colored... But then again I just entered my twenties and I'm guessing I'm on the younger side of the people in this thread!

[PenPalAnna]

Personally I carry mine in my purse When you have to wear a bra then carrying a pen in a shirt pocket looks a bit awkward.